Recommended Reading

In our tradition, there is a story often told about the great sage, Rabbi Hillel. A Roman soldier, taunting him, said he must recite the entire Torah while standing on one foot. Hillel thought for a moment, standing with difficulty, for he was an old man. “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor,” he said. "That is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary."

Okay, maybe you've read this entire book cover to cover. Or maybe you read writing books the way you read mysteries, so you skipped to the end. Maybe you're standing in a bookstore right now and are trying to see what tips you can pick up without buying the book at all. No matter. We're going to sum up the entire book, everything we have to say about how to learn to write in one sentence, like Rabbi Hillel:

If You Want To Be a Writer, Be A Reader.

That's it. That's the whole deal. As we said back in Chapter One, if you want to write memoirs, read one hundred of them. Figure out how other writers have avoided making themselves victims or failed to; figure out how other writers with great accomplishments in their middle age managed to solve the problem of keeping readers hooked while recounting a relatively uneventful childhood. If you want to write suspense novels, read all the thrillers you can find and pay attention to how these writers end one chapter to build anticipation for the next, or drop hints early on that will figure into the plot later. Or fail to. Bad writing can be as instructive as successful writing.

Just because you've been reading since you were five does not mean, no matter how interesting your life, that you can write about it in an interesting way. We do not suggest reading books like this one in hopes of finding a formula, but books in which other writers have managed to overcome the same problems of craft that you will inevitably face. If you want to write, read. The rest is commentary.

Here are some books you may find suggestive:

Allison, Dorothy. Bastard out of Carolina . Dutton, 1992.
Alvarez, Julia. Yo!. Algonquin, 1997.
_____.In the Name of Salome, Algonquin, 2000.
Asaro, Catherine. The Last Hawk. St. Martins Press, 1998.
Angelou, Maya. Singin’ and Swingin’ and Getting’ Merry Like Christmas. Random House, 1976. Memoir.
_____. All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes. Vintage Books, 1991. Memoir.
_____. I Know why the Caged Bird Sings. Random House, 1970. Memoir.
Atwood, Margaret. Surfacing. Simon & Schuster, 1972.
Ballard, J.G. Empire of the Sun. Pocketbooks, 1985. Memoir.
Barington, Judith. Lifesaving. Eighth Mountain Press, 2000. Memoir.
Bragg, Rich. All Over But the Shoutin’. Pantheon, 1997. Memoir
Brecht, Bertold. Three Penny Opera. Arcade, 1995.
_____. Threepennny Novel. (Out of Print).
Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. Penguin Books, 1984.
Brownmiller, Susan. In Our Time: Memoir of a Revolution. Dial Press, 1999. Memoir.
Burke, James Lee. Burning Angel. Hyperion, 1985.
Casella, Casare, (with Eileen Daspin). Diary of a Tuscan chef. Doubleday, 1998. Memoir.
Chabon, Michael. Mysteries of Pittsburgh. Morrow, 1988.
_____. Werewolves in Their Youth. Random House. 1999.
Chaucer. Canterbury Tales. Bantam, 1982.
Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. Penguin, 1999.
_____. Lord Jim. Oxford University Press, 2000.
Danticat, Edwidge. Krik? Krok! Random House, 1996.
d e Beauvoir, Simone. Memoirs of a Dutiful Daughter. Harper, 1974. Memoir.
_____. The Prime of Life. Marlowe & Company. 1994. Memoir.
_____. Force of Circumstance. Marlowe & Company. 1994. Memoir.
_____. The Coming of Age. Norton, 1996. Memoir.
_____. Adieux. Pantheon Books, 1984. Memoir.
_____. America Day by Day. University of California Press, 2000.
Delany, Samuel, Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand. Bantam, 1984.
_____. Triton. Bantam, 1984.

Hundreds more great books & writing tools in:

CATEGORY: Writing / Reference / Memoir / The Novel
PUBLISHER: Leapfrog Press
PAGES: 328
TRIM: 6 x 9
ISBN: 0-9728984-5-X
PRICE: $16.95 / Paperback Original

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